roadrunner

The Chinese yuan is now China’s most used currency for cross-border settlements. According to official data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, the Chinese yuan rose to be the most-used currency in March over the U.S. dollar, in a push from the Beijing government to internationalize its currency for payments. Chinese Yuan Used to Settle Most of China’s International Payments in March Beijing is now settling most of its international trade operations using the Chinese yuan. According to official numbers from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, a Chinese national institution in charge of managing China’s international reserve, the payments settled using the Chinese yuan overtook those made with U.S. dollars in March, being used in 48.4% of all settlements. The Chinese yuan was used to settle $549.9 billion in payments, a record number, rising from $434.5 billion in February. The usage of the U.S. dollar for these payments fell from 48.6% to 46.7% during the same period. China has been increasing reliance on its currency due to recent geopolitical challenges that have been used as a rationale for the U.S. to apply sanctions to Russia, affecting also Chinese companies accused of serving as proxies for the Russian government and its institutions. Yuan Usage Has Grown However, internationally, the usage of the Chinese yuan for settlements is minuscule when compared to the volumes settled in U.S. dollars, even with the implementation of sanctions. During March, the usage of the Chinese Yuan in global international payments rose to 4.5%, while the U.S. dollar accounted for 83.71% of all volume settled, according to data from SWIFT, a global banking payments system. However, this marks an increase compared to the usage numbers of December, when the Chinese renminbi only accounted for 2.15% of all global payments, according to SWIFT’s renminbi tracker. This means that the yuan’s usage has more than doubled during Q1 2023. This, and other recent trade agreements that have led countries like Russia and Brazil to settle their bilateral payments with China using national currencies or the Chinese yuan, have alarmed some analysts regarding the possible rise of a “bipolar” economic world. Economist Nouriel Roubini recently stated that rivals of the U.S. would probably group around the yuan to propose it as an alternative to the U.S. dollar. In the same way, billionaire investor Ray Dalio noted the importance of the U.S. dollar in international trade is fading, thanks to the sanctions that the country has imposed on other countries. What do you think about the growth of the usage of the Chinese yuan? Tell us in the comment section below. View the full article

As the Bitcoin Cash enthusiasts brace themselves for the much-awaited upgrade that vows to unleash decentralized applications, General Protocols revealed a complete production release of its decentralized hedging application, boasting a doubled contract size. Meanwhile, those utilizing the privacy-boosting protocol Cashfusion have fused over 17.4 million bitcoin cash since its inception, equivalent to a staggering $2 billion in U.S. dollar value. General Protocols Reveals Latest Defi Application Release The Bitcoin Cash community eagerly awaits an upgrade that promises to revolutionize the creation of decentralized applications on May 15, 2023. Last November, blockchain developer Jason Dreyzehner shared the news that the 2023 upgrade had been successfully added to the testnet network. Dreyzehner elaborated on the forthcoming improvements, which will introduce Cashtokens capable of generating a plethora of possibilities, from identity tokens and covenant-tracking identity tokens, to voting with fungible tokens, sealed voting, multithreaded covenants, and multi-covenant decentralized applications. In the interim, BCH enthusiasts have been introduced to the full-fledged production version of BCH Bull. The decentralized finance (defi) application empowers users to long or hedge their BCH against various tradable assets. The project’s developers announced the latest release on April 17, 2023, and disclosed several new enhancements, adding to the platform’s appeal. “BCH Bull Production release is out,” the defi application’s devs announced on Twitter. “2x the contract size, 3x the contract duration, approx 30% cheaper fees, additional asset (CNY), premium tracker and language localization.” BCH Bull has a new asset! Now you can hedge or leverage against Chinese Yuan (CNY). BCH Bull also has language localization, with Chinese language support. We hope to add more assets and language support as we grow! #bethebull #bch #cny #bitcoincash #utxo #chinese #chineseyuan pic.twitter.com/7Ts7qy3jFp — BCH BULL (@BCH_BULL) April 18, 2023 Cashfusion Fuses $2B in Value Since Inception April marked yet another significant milestone for Cashfusion, as the number of fusions jumped beyond $2 billion in value since its inception on November 28, 2019. Presently, over 17.4 million bitcoin cash (BCH) has been fused, currently valued at $2,049,395,837 according to current BCH exchange rates. This achievement has come at a time when Coinjoin processes have come under intense scrutiny. Both Cashfusion and Conjoin techniques are employed to obscure the origin and destination of crypto transactions, but their approaches and levels of privacy differ vastly. While Coinjoin combines multiple crypto transactions, making it difficult to determine which inputs are associated with which outputs, it is not infallible as some patterns can still be identified. In contrast, Cashfusion is considered a more sophisticated privacy technique that utilizes a multi-party computation (MPC) protocol to blend transactions in such a way that even the participants cannot decipher which inputs are associated with which outputs. Data analyst James Waugh conducted tests on Cashfusion in 2020 and strongly endorsed the scheme’s practicality over other Coinjoin methods. With just 18 days left before the much-anticipated BCH upgrade, Bitcoin Cash supporters are looking forward to the introduction of additional privacy-enhancing, decentralized applications. While they await the upgrade, BCH proponents are still taking advantage of tools like BCH Bull and Cashfusion. Along with the impressive Cashfusion milestone, this privacy application has now been integrated into the Electron Cash mobile wallet for Android systems, bolstering its accessibility. What do you think about the latest Bitcoin Cash milestones ahead of the May upgrade? Share your thoughts in the comments section below. View the full article

A recent survey made public by the online comparison platform Finder.com has revealed the predictions of 32 professionals in the fields of fintech and cryptocurrency. The specialists have expressed their conviction that ethereum, the second largest digital asset by market capitalization, will culminate at $2,342 per unit by the end of 2023. Optimistic Outlook for Ethereum as Finder Survey Forecasts $5,491 by 2025 and $14,814 by 2030 Crypto and fintech specialists have convened to predict ethereum’s (ETH) future price in the latest Finder’s prediction report. Along with the projected price, the Shapella upgrade has been a topic of discussion among the Finder survey’s respondents. Out of the total number of panelists, 21% expressed their concern over the potential centralization of the Ethereum network following the implementation of Shapella. Furthermore, half of the professionals surveyed anticipated an increase in regulatory scrutiny of the project in light of the upgrade. Ethereum chart by TradingView A consensus among the majority of Finder’s experts was reached, indicating that ether will attain a peak of about $2,758 this year, but eventually fall within the range of $2,342 per unit by year-end. Regarding the panel’s opinions, 53% of the respondents recommended the purchase of ethereum at present, while 13% proposed it is time to sell. The remaining 33% of panelists suggested holding on to ethereum and patiently awaiting the opportune moment. Paul Levy, a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton, is of the view that ether will conclude 2023 at $2,200 per coin. Levy believes that people have faith in ether’s future potential since it “is seen as a stable option offering more dependable continuity amidst the collapse of less rigorously tested platforms and coins.” The team of experts at Finder.com has also expressed their belief that ether will reach $5,491 by the conclusion of 2025, and they have further forecasted that by 2030, a solitary unit of ether will exchange for $14,814. Despite the consensus prediction of $2,342 per unit by the end of the year, some panelists were more optimistic about ethereum’s future prospects, anticipating even higher prices. Ilya Volkov, CEO of Youhodler, is one such optimist, forecasting an end-of-year price of $2,600 per unit. “ETH as the second-largest cryptocurrency will continue to correlate with BTC and increase in price in the long distance,” Volkov expressed. Damian Chmiel, a senior analyst and editor at Finance Magnates, predicts an even higher price point of $3K per ETH by the year’s end. Chmiel wrote: The three-thousand-dollar level is merely a return to the prices of a year ago, far from a speculative bull run, and only allowing for a more honest and fundamental valuation of the asset. Experts Think SEC Could Declare Ether Is a Security In addition, 50% of the expert panel at Finder.com have expressed their belief that ethereum is presently “priced fairly,” whereas 40% contend that it is “underpriced.” A smaller 10% faction is of the opinion that ETH is currently “overpriced.” Ruadhan O, the creator of Seasonal Tokens, has set his sights on an end-of-year price of $2,200 per unit. Ruadhan O underlined his concern regarding the potential classification of ETH as a security by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). “Ethereum could be classified as a security by the SEC, because Ethereum investors are effectively betting on the future performance of the developers,” Ruadhan O said. “The New York Attorney General has recently made this argument in a lawsuit against Kucoin, and the SEC may adopt the same argument as it seeks to assert jurisdiction over Ethereum.” The latest Finder’s ethereum prediction report is higher than the forecast experts predicted in January 2023. You can check out Finder’s ethereum price prediction report in its entirety here. What are your thoughts on Finder’s predictions for Ethereum’s prices in 2023? Do you agree with the experts’ assessment or do you see a different outcome for the leading smart contract platform? Let us know in the comments section below. View the full article

In the wake of the recent legal action against ten associates of Terraform Labs, which included the co-founder Shin Hyun-seong, known to many as Daniel Shin, it appears that prosecutors from Seoul are convinced that Terraform Labs and co-founder Do Kwon are still in possession of a considerable sum of money, specifically 130 billion won ($100 million), held in a Swiss bank account. South Korean Prosecutors Claim Do Kwon and Terraform Labs Still Own $100 Million Tucked Away in a Swiss Bank Account, SEC Complaint Backs Theory As reported by Park Beom-soo, a local journalist, following the Terraform Labs indictment, Do Kwon and his associates allegedly transferred 10,000 bitcoin (BTC) to a fintech bank headquartered in Switzerland. Sygnum Bank, a digital asset financial institution based in Zurich, was reportedly the recipient of this sizable transfer. It has since come to light that the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office has been closely monitoring the movement of Terra-linked bitcoin and has revealed this information during a press conference held to discuss the recent indictment. The prosecutor’s office’s spokesperson stated, “We are actively tracking the bitcoin owned by LFG (Luna Foundation Guard), but some of it has been converted into cash and deposited into the Signum account. As outlined in the SEC complaint, the amount transferred is approximately 100 million dollars (about 130 billion won).” It would appear that the investigation into Terraform Labs and Do Kwon’s financial dealings is ongoing, and further details may come to light concerning this matter. Onchain Researcher: LFG ‘Failed to Account for the Trail of Bread Crumbs Left by the Change Outputs’ Just before Terra collapsed, Terra’s Luna Foundation Guard (LFG), an organization created to defend the blockchain stablecoin UST’s dollar peg, accumulated a massive amount of bitcoin. The funds were meant to protect UST from dropping below the $1 parity but the fallout was so bad, LFG and Terra’s leaders like Do Kwon could not save it. After the collapse, it was speculated that LFG did not use all the funds to defend the stablecoin, and LFG fired back by releasing an audit that claimed the group used more than 80,000 BTC to defend the coin’s peg. However, OXT researcher Ergo BTC discovered that the blockchain “tells a different story” in a Twitter thread from October 2022. Ergo said that while LFG may have declared ownership of a single wallet holding 313 BTC, their actions have left a breadcrumb trail of evidence that could be easily followed. Ergo discovered a group of fifteen significant Binance withdrawals made to a single address. The coins were then consolidated and used in a series of transactions spanning several months. Shortly after the first withdrawal from Binance, 665 BTC were spent on Kucoin, and on May 16, the remaining 313 BTC were transferred to the new LFG address, providing evidence of their association. Ergo further said that the sequence of transactions continued for many months and “unfortunately for the LFG, these (reused addresses) were active prior the depeg event, providing additional clues for investigators.” The researcher further added that while the LFG may argue that the pseudonymity of BTC provides them with a veil of anonymity, it is clear that the activity the researcher observed is “directly related to the funding of the LFG treasury.” Park Beom-soo’s report further confirmed to Ergo that the onchain activity the OXT researcher monitored aligns more closely with the Seoul prosecutor’s report than the story told by Do Kwon and the LFG audit. What are your thoughts on the ongoing investigation into Terraform Labs and the allegations that the company and co-founder Do Kwon are still in possession of a substantial sum of money? Do you believe that the findings from the U.S. SEC and the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office align? Share your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Current indicators suggest the European Central Bank (ECB) should raise the interest rate in May, the monetary authority’s chief economist said. Future increases will depend on the economic data but this is still not the right time to stop, according to Philip Lane who believes the bank has to bring inflation back to the 2% target “in a timely manner.” Leaving Interest Rate at Current Level Would Be ‘Inappropriate’ Despite Falling Inflation, Lane Says Inflation in the euro area has dropped significantly between October, when it peaked at 10.6%, and March’s 6.9%. Nevertheless, the most important goal for its central bank is to make sure that it gets closer to 2%, Chief Economist of the ECB Philip Lane told Le Monde in a recent interview published by the bank on Tuesday. While easing in some sectors, such as energy, inflationary pressures persist in others, like food, the top official noted, warning there’s a risk of “sticky” inflation. This is why it’s important that the ECB raises its interest rates again to ensure inflation returns to the target “in a timely manner,” he emphasized. Inflation has been too high for almost two years, Lane admitted, attributing it to bottlenecks created by the pandemic and the energy shock resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. To deal with it, the ECB increased interest rates by 3.5 percentage points, from -0.5% to 3%, which is unprecedented for the eurozone. “For our next Governing Council meeting on May 4, the current data are indicating that we should raise rates again,” said Philip Lane who sits on the bank’s Executive Board. He added that the analysis suggests it would be “inappropriate” to leave the deposit rate at the current 3% level and stressed: This is still not the right time to stop. Beyond that, I don’t have a crystal ball, it will depend on the economic data. The most important task is to bring inflation closer to 2% “within a reasonable time period,” ECB’s chief economist reiterated. The longer it stays too high, the greater the risk that people lose faith in the bank’s ability to return to its long-term target, he reasoned. Lane’s statements for the French press come after several central bank governors, members of the ECB’s Governing Council, indicated in the past few weeks that a new rate hike is to be expected from the upcoming meeting next month. By how much do you think the ECB will increase interest rates in May? Share your predictions in the comments section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Web3 game company Iskra unveils the release of its own launchpad for games, the Iskra Launchpad, with World of Win set to be the first project to conduct its initial game offering (IGO) on the platform. The release of the Iskra Launchpad comes right after Iskra dominated the number one spot on DappRadar’s blockchain games dapp rankings for all periods – 24 hours, 7 days, and 30 days – with 669.27k UAW as of writing and cited as one of the best-performing games dapp for March 2023. The Iskra Launchpad is a platform that allows game companies working with Iskra to promote their tokens to the Iskra community via IGO before its official listing on an exchange. Through the Iskra Launchpad, the Iskra community will have the opportunity to discover visionary games at an early stage and purchase tokens at its offering price. While tokens purchased on the Iskra Launchpad during an IGO are locked and subject to a vesting and distribution schedule, every IGO token has a corresponding “Express Token” that can be immediately used for other utilities. This unique feature allows IGO participants to concurrently enjoy exclusive uses such as purchasing NFTs on the Iskra Market, accessing exclusive invites to events like CBTs, and enjoying other in-game benefits. World of Win, the first project that will hold its IGO on the Iskra Launchpad, is the platform’s first social casino and arcade offering, which showcases the best in slots and hyper casual skill-based games. By playing World of Win, users can enjoy the thrill of playing in a casino without the gambling aspect of gaming as there is no cash-out feature involved. WoW Labs, the company behind World of Win, will be offering its WoW token for the first time during the IGO, which builds up to the public launch of the game that is expected to happen soon afterwards. “We are excited to kick off our service with the Iskra community and be an addition to the premier gaming catalog of the platform,” Sam [Family Name], founder and CEO of WoW Labs, explained. “Social casino is a unique and widely popular genre. The thrill that comes with games of chance is something that I’ve seen as a missed opportunity in crypto gaming, as a Web3 gaming and crypto enthusiast myself. WOW Labs is filling that gap by introducing the full blown social casino experience to the Web3 gamers.” By launching World of Win, WOW Labs aims to introduce the first social casino gaming experience to Web3 gamers. The hyper casual and skill-based tournament games run on an hourly basis, which gives users speedy and dynamic play-and-earn experience, while WoW’s DeFi-inspired Piggy Bank NFTs allow more coins for continuous play. The release of the Iskra Launchpad, as well as the launch of World of Win, adds another milestone to the several available services and games that Iskra offers to its growing community. According to Spike Ryu, Chief Operating Officer of Iskra, “the company is focused on steadily rolling out games and services, so that it can demonstrate the full potential of community engagement in Web3 gaming.” ABOUT ISKRA Iskra is a single-destination Web3 game platform for developers and players that rewards them for their contribution and participation through a unique community system on the blockchain. This allows stakeholders to take a major part in building the platform for future growth. Current services include a wallet, DEX, marketplace, NFT Mission Card (daily reward), governance staking and voting, and soon-to-launch Launchpad, Web3 casual and hyper-casual games. Backed by some of the biggest technology and video game companies in South Korea, Iskra ranks in the top categories for gaming in DappRadar for unique active wallets per day and engagement. Explore the future of play! ABOUT WoW LABS WOW Labs is a Web3 casual games developer, teamed up from social casino and puzzle games studios that serviced on mobile and Facebook platforms. WOW Labs team formerly developed and advised multiple titles that grossed top of the charts in major app stores. WOW Labs creates an immersive and addictive casual gaming experience that tightly integrates Play-and-Earn mechanisms. WOW Labs’ goal is to create a casual gaming focused metaverse that is approachable and fun to any skill level of gamers in the era of blockchain. WOW Labs is launching its first title “World of Win: Social Casino and Play-and-Earn Arcade” with Iskra, and will branch out its WOW franchise via more titles and over multiple blockchains to further reach casual game enthusiasts. This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

In the midst of a tumultuous week, First Republic Bank is struggling to regain its footing in the financial world. Reports have surfaced that the bank is poised to enter government receivership due to a massive outflow of $100 billion in customer withdrawals last month. This has prompted investors to flee the bank, causing its shares to dive-bomb by over 50% on Tuesday. Shares From America’s 14th Largest Bank Decimated Over the Last Two Days The situation only worsened as pre-market trading began, and by 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, First Republic Bank’s shares had fallen by over 30%. The decline in market capitalization has been a major concern for investors, who are increasingly worried about the bank’s stability and future prospects. SCOOP (1/2): Bankers working w @firstrepublic bank say they expect eventual govt receivership for the ailing bank after it exhausts private sector solutions such as asset sales and finding a buyer, both of which appear difficult. Officials at the big banks believed the Feds were — Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) April 25, 2023 Sources close to the matter have indicated that the banks which injected $30 billion into First Republic Bank may need to step in and provide additional assistance. Advisors to the banks have stated that failure to do so would result in a greater cost down the line. It is expected that the advisors to First Republic Bank will make a plea to the larger U.S. banks to provide further support. The troubled bank has already taken significant steps to address its financial challenges, including the sale of assets and a significant reduction in its workforce, with 7,200 employees being laid off. However, it remains to be seen if these measures will be sufficient to restore investor confidence and ensure the bank’s long-term viability. The only question remaining about First Republic Bank $FRC is whether or not they make it to Friday when banks are usually closed by the FDIC.pic.twitter.com/wGTYC2mYwi — Wall Street Silver (@WallStreetSilv) April 25, 2023 The banks’ advisors reportedly disclosed that if they are not helped, the system will “pay more later when it fails,” according to CNBC. “Advisors to First Republic will attempt to cajole the big U.S. banks who’ve already propped it up into doing one more favor,” CNBC’s Hugh Son reported. Others have blamed a specific demographic of First Republic Bank’s customers for its downfall. “Wealthy clientele such as the affluent individuals that banked at [First Republic] have no loyalty to any particular financial adviser,” Chris Whalen, chairman of Whalen Global Advisors, stated in a note received by CBS News. “First Republic was one of many advisers and service providers to their wealthy customers, people who find products like interest-only mortgages attractive,” Whalen added. After dropping more than 30% on Wednesday, First Republic Bank’s shares managed to rise and currently, the stock is down between 21% to 26% after the rebound. Still, there’s another half day of Wall Street trading and First Republic Bank stock will be watched closely. Reports further detail that the bank’s stocks were halted due to volatility this afternoon. What do you think the future holds for First Republic Bank, and do you believe that the steps taken by the bank thus far will be enough to restore investor confidence? Share your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

On April 20th, The European Parliament approved the first comprehensive crypto regulation EU-wide, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA). In the same day, a separate law, the Transfer of Funds regulation, was passed, requiring crypto operators to confirm the identity of their customers in order to halt money laundering transactions. While the crypto regulation worldwide is becoming increasingly strict, Alchemy Pay is rapidly growing and rising in the cryptocurrency payment field as a payment solution provider bridging global fiat and cryptocurrencies for users in 173 countries. All these achievements started from a forward-looking insight about the revolutionary potential of crypto – the team believe that by creating a seamless gateway between traditional finance and crypto assets, they can make the emerging technology more widely available and provide easier access to financial services for businesses and individuals in different countries and regions. Currently, it has established solid partnerships with international payment channels such as Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Diners Clubs, Google Pay, Apple Pay and hundreds of local payment channels, and is gradually expanding a larger network of partners. Recently, Shawn Shi, the founder of Alchemy Pay, was selected as one of the “2022 Forbes China Web 3.0 Innovation Pioneers”. At the same time, Alchemy Pay has established a brand benchmark for its professionalism, trustworthiness and accessibility as a professional and serious payment solution provider that is bridging the gap between fiat and cryptocurrencies in the global economies. Dedicated for Five Years to Provide Mainstream Friendly Crypto Payment Solution In 2017, Alchemy Pay project was built and launched by a team of payments experts who had come from years of experience in Singapore, America, Europe with the likes of HSBC, Mastercard, Paypal, and Visa. A year later, the Alchemy Pay team followed up with Crypto Payment, the world’s first hybrid payment merchant acceptance system that allows merchants to accept payments in both cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies from their customers. “This is the equivalent of a ‘hands off’ system.” Robert McCracken, the head of the Alchemy Pay ecosystem explained, “We accept cryptocurrency payments on behalf of merchants and convert them to fiat currency for settlement in the merchant’s local fiat currency.” From there, the services offered by Alchemy Pay have gradually expanded in four main directions, including on-ramp, off-ramp, NFT checkout and cryptocurrency payment acceptance systems, bringing forward a diverse range of solutions, while maintaining some convergence and crossover between the four segments. “On & Off-ramp is our payment solution.” Robert explained in the interview, “On-ramp is deployed as a plugin that the Web3 platform can host on their website so that users can use legal payment methods such as Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, Google Pay, local bank transfers and commonly used local digital wallets to securely purchase cryptocurrencies. Off-ramp is also a feature of the plugin that operates in a reverse manner, allowing users to sell their cryptocurrency into fiat currency and send the funds directly to their personal bank account, which makes it very easy, straightforward, secure and compliant for users to buy and sell cryptocurrency. NFT checkout is a relatively new solution, with the ability to easily purchase NFT using fiat currency payment methods. This is an easier and more straightforward way for both crypto native and users unfamiliar with Web3.” After more than five years of development, Alchemy Pay has gained more experience than any other project in the cryptocurrency payments industry – it pinpoints the needs of cryptocurrency-native users, constantly updates and iterates the service, and comes up with solutions with mainstream-friendly usability. Alchemy Pay is available almost anywhere in the world for people of all technical backgrounds, which has built the platform’s barriers within the crypto payments field. In its first years of development, Alchemy Pay focused on the Asian market, and gradually expanded to Europe and the Americas. By 2021, Alchemy Pay has established payment touchpoints with over 2 million merchants in 70+ countries worldwide. In the last year, Alchemy Pay has focused its business on expanding its global network of payment and remittance partners, partnering with more exchanges and mainstream blockchain networks, and moving towards providing direct-to-customer (D2C) payment solutions. Put Vision Into Global, Root in the Local As the business continues to expand, Alchemy Pay has developed into a truly worldwide organization. At the same time, the team found that constructing a strict hierarchical structure may stifle creativity and productivity and limit the organization’s growth. As a result, at the end of 2022, Alchemy Pay implemented an “Advisory Board Management System”, inviting global experts to take charge of different departments such as compliance, product, security, etc., where they can participate in decision-making, provide more professional advice and focus their talents on areas where they can achieve their true potential. “Because one person can’t be proficient in everything, we have implemented a committee based advisory and management system.” When asked about the original reason for the system, Robert explained, “We thought a decentralized structure would allow our team to thrive and grow healthily. This setup has been very successful in allowing a real sense of team collaboration to occur.” David Plouffe, the former White House Senior Advisor and legendary campaign manager, has also recently chosen to join Alchemy Pay and served as a committee member of Alchemy Pay’s management and advisory board, and is responsible for strategy, compliance, and government relations as a global strategic advisor. Plouffe is credited with the strategy and grass-roots public engagement savvy that won Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. After his work for Obama, Plouffe became the Senior Vice President of Policy and Strategy for Uber, and in 2022 Plouffe joined the Binance Global Advisory Board. Currently, Alchemy Pay has core talents and expert leaders in all departments. Ethan Wang has been a driving force for the tech team, he is the tech lead in Google Cloud Web3 team and one of the founding team members. He also formerly worked for Facebook Libra as a tech lead and founding team member; Andy Ng has over 20 years of experience deep-diving in product; Jonas Cernius head up the compliance team from Europe, for he has over 10 years of combined experience in civil service and finance compliance and has extensive experience in legal operations. Robert said, “We welcome talented people from around the world to join us and build Alchemy Pay with us!” By building a group of talents with its roots in the local market, Alchemy Pay is putting more emphasis on local payments, making it easier and faster for local users to use the payment services it offers. Alchemy Pay has a significant advantage in the industry in terms of local payments, for it currently supports 300+ local payment channels such as OVO and DANA in Indonesia, GCash in the Philippines and many more. At the same time, this team model has allowed Alchemy Pay to gain an advantage in global policy and compliance, “Any changes in the global regional regulatory environment are important to us and can lead to changes and trends in the payments space, so we will keep a watchful eye to catch the latest trends and changes.” Robert said. In recent years, Alchemy Pay has seen the potential for demand for cryptocurrencies in South East Asia and Latin America, tailoring its payment solutions and focusing its marketing efforts on these regions, developing operational strategies to promote its products in line with local market conditions. Alchemy Pay has also built a strong reputation and competitiveness for its products by partnering with celebrities and notable organizations to promote its payment products and expand brand local presence. “Our mission is to bridge the fiat and crypto global economies.” Talking about Alchemy Pay’s long-term vision, Robert expressed the team’s desire to create a sustainable and evolutionary project that solves the problems of connecting the world of traditional finance to the world of cryptocurrencies. He concluded Alchemy Pay’s mission and vision:“Our ultimate goal is to make it easy for people worldwide to use and access a more decentralized, open, and fair form of finance. We want Alchemy Pay to represent a crypto payment solution that stands the test of time and values users’ feedback. To achieve this, we will focus on refining and improving our product while adopting a long-termist mentality to meet the long term needs of our users.” Source：Forbes This is a sponsored post. 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Cardano was one of Wednesday’s big movers, as bullish sentiment returned to cryptocurrency markets. Spurred by an apparent collapse of First Republic Bank, the global crypto market cap moved 7% higher, as of writing. Solana was also in the green, rising by nearly 9%. Cardano (ADA) Cardano (ADA) rose by as much as 9% on Wednesday, as bullish sentiment returned to cryptocurrency markets. Following a low of $0.38 on Tuesday, ADA/USD raced to an intraday high of $0.4166 earlier in today’s session. Today’s surge in price saw cardano climb to its highest point in six days, since when the token was trading above a ceiling at $0.4200. Looking at the chart, Wednesday’s move came as the relative strength index (RSI) broke free of a resistance level at 53.00. At the time of writing, the index is now tracking at 55.12, with an upcoming ceiling of 58.00 a potential target for bulls. Should this point be hit, there is a strong possibility that ADA will move back above its aforementioned point of resistance. Solana (SOL) Additionally solana (SOL) was another notable mover on Wednesday, as the token was also nearly 9% higher. SOL/USD rose to a peak of $22.92 earlier in the day, after almost breaking out of a floor at $20.00 the day prior. As a result of today’s gains, solana is now on the cusp of colliding with its long-term ceiling at $23.00. Although the RSI has risen above a ceiling at 50.00 in today’s session, it will need to move beyond the 55.00 mark in order to reach the above target. As of writing, price strength is tracking at 52.97, with solana now trading at the $22.71 mark. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Can solana extend today’s rally for the remainder of the week? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

Bitcoin’s imminent difficulty change appears to be heading towards a possible decrease, marking the first time in over 73 days, ever since February 12, 2023. The network has witnessed a notable difficulty upswing of approximately 22.62% since block height 778,176. Consequently, with the current block times in place, the mining participants of the network may finally see a drop. Bitcoin Difficulty Expected to Drop 1-4% Lower; BTC Price Spikes 6% Higher Present data suggests that the decline in Bitcoin’s difficulty level could potentially take place around May 4, 2023. The hashrate of the network currently stands at 332 exahash per second (EH/s) after experiencing a dip to 290 EH/s on Tuesday. According to statistics obtained from three data points (1, 2, 3), the block intervals, i.e., the time between each block discovered, indicate that blocks are being found over the ten-minute average. Presently, the estimations for the next difficulty drop hover around -1% to -4%. However, with over a week, or more than a thousand blocks, yet to go before the next difficulty adjustment, the exact figures remain uncertain. Nonetheless, a reduction after the five consecutive increases and the 22%+ surge in difficulty in the last two months will undoubtedly give miners a much-needed respite. Moreover, the price of bitcoin has also been on an upward trajectory, providing miners with a higher daily revenue until the next retarget. On April 26, Bitcoin’s value spiked 6% higher, surging above the $29K range. This notable increase has come as a breath of fresh air for the miners who had been bracing themselves through five back-to-back difficulty increases. Over the past three days, Foundry USA has contributed a substantial hashpower of 110.30 EH/s, which accounts for 32.68% of the total hashrate. Following behind, Antpool has produced 79.62 EH/s or 23.59% of the total hashrate, securing its position as the second-largest mining pool. Foundry and Antpool’s hashrates are followed by F2pool, Viabtc, and Binance Pool, respectively. What do you think about the difficulty possibly declining during the next retarget? Share your insights in the comments section below. View the full article

Bitcoin was back above $29,000 on Wednesday, as markets continued to react to concerns over First Republic Bank. It was reported that customers withdrew around $100 billion in deposits from First Republic in March. Ethereum was also higher on the news, climbing back above $1,900. Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) rebounded strongly on Wednesday, as markets reacted to the news that deposits in First Republic Bank fell by $100 billion last month. BTC/USD surged to a peak of $29,121.97 earlier in today’s session, following a low of $27,217.17 the day before. This move has pushed bitcoin to its highest point in the last seven-days, when it was trading above $30,000. Bitcoin chart by TradingView Overall, the surge in price comes as bulls rejected a breakout below a long-term support point at $27,000 on Tuesday. The relative strength index (RSI) also bounced from a floor of its own at the 44.00 mark, and is now tracking at 54.09. A ceiling of 55.00 will likely act as a checkpoint for bulls, and should they move beyond this, there is a strong possibility that BTC climbs to $30,000. Ethereum In addition to BTC, ethereum (ETH) was also in the green, as prices snapped a three-day losing streak. Following a low of $1,805.32 on Tuesday, ETH/USD jumped to a peak at $1,919.72 earlier in the day. As a result of this move, ethereum has hit a five-day high, with price now hovering around a resistance point at $1,915. Ethereum chart by TradingView The last time ETH bulls broke this ceiling was on April 13, and on the occasion the price went on to reach an 11-month high above $2,100. In order for something similar to happen this go round, the RSI would need to overcome a hurdle at the 53.00 level. At the time of writing, the index is tracking at 51.64. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Should the banking crisis worsen, could we see ethereum hit $3,000 in May? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Victoria, Seychelles, April 26th, 2023 — Bitget, top crypto derivatives and copy trading platform, has announced the addition of Liquid Staking Derivatives (LSDs) as a margin option for Bitget Coin-margined Futures, making it the first centralized exchange to provide such products on the market. This new feature will allow traders to continue earning staking rewards while also utilizing their staked assets for trading purposes. Bitget Coin-margined Futures is a unique product designed for crypto-enthusiasts, supporting multiple currencies as a margin for various futures trading pairs. With the introduction of LSDs as collateral, traders can now access the liquidity of staked assets without having to unstake them. Currently, Bitget supports stETH as collateral for the first rollout, and plans to expand support for more assets for LSDs collateral in the future. Using LSDs as a margin offers a range of benefits for cryptocurrency traders. It provides increased flexibility and diversification, helping users manage risk more effectively and potentially offering a more efficient way to use staked assets for trading. This can be particularly advantageous for traders looking to expand their trading strategies beyond holding or staking cryptocurrencies. Furthermore, using LSDs as a margin can help investors increase the liquidity of staked assets. By earning staking rewards while providing liquidity for trading, LSDs can create a more vibrant trading ecosystem and potentially increase the overall value of staked assets. “With this latest addition, Bitget continues to solidify its position as the leading crypto derivatives trading platform with multiple innovative products. Traders can now take advantage of this new feature by logging into their Bitget account and selecting LSDs as a margin option. By offering LSDs as a margin option, we are giving our users greater flexibility and more diverse trading strategies, which we believe will drive further innovation and growth in the cryptocurrency derivatives market. We are proud to be the first exchange to offer this cutting-edge feature and are excited to continue leading the way in providing our users with the most advanced trading tools and options.“ said Gracy Chen, Managing Director of Bitget. Bitget is a top crypto derivatives exchange, which launched the first USDT-margined futures and USDC-margined products in the industry. According to Coingecko, Bitget is currently a top 5 futures trading platform supporting 170+ futures trading pairs. About Bitget Established in 2018, Bitget is the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange with futures trading and copy trading services as its key features. Serving over 8 million users in more than 100 countries and regions, the exchange is committed to helping users trade smarter by providing a secure, one-stop trading solution. Bitget inspires individuals to embrace crypto through collaborations with credible partners, including legendary Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi, the leading Italian football team Juventus, and official eSports events organizer PGL. According to Coingecko, Bitget is currently a top 5 futures trading platform and a top 10 spot trading platform. For more information, visit: Website | Twitter | Telegram | LinkedIn | Discord For media inquiries, please contact: media@bitget.com This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Fabio Panetta, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank (ECB), announced the digital euro project was entering its final phase. Before the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the European Parliament, Panetta stated that the digital euro, if approved, would be focused on making payments easier for Europeans. ECB’s Panetta Explains Digital Euro Payment Focus Fabio Panetta, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, announced that the digital euro project, an initiative that seeks to digitize Europe’s fiat currency, was reaching its final stages of research, and stated that one of the first goals of the project is to establish it as a universal payment method. In an introductory statement given on April 24 before the committee on economic and monetary affairs of the European Parliament, Panetta explained that there was no single digital means of payment across the European Union. Panetta stated: We have been investigating the technical solutions that would enable people to easily make payments in digital euro, anywhere in the euro area. Furthermore, he declared that the digital euro could be given legal tender status by legislators, making all merchants capable of accepting digital payments obliged to accept it. On the other side of the spectrum, it would allow banks and payment processors to cut their reliance on other providers, allowing the construction of a “truly European” new platform. Payment Sovereignty and Structural Design The supposed importance this project has for the structure of payments in Europe has been previously explained by ECB President Christine Lagarde, when she stated that the digital euro was “key” for European payment autonomy. At the time, Lagarde emphasized that many of the payment alternatives used by Europeans, like applications and cards, weren’t necessarily based in Europe. Panetta also talked about the ideal requirements that the digital euro should fulfill if launched, stating: People should be able to pay and be paid in digital euro anywhere in the euro area, no matter which intermediary they are using to access the digital euro or which country they are in. Panetta stated that the next phase of the project would include the development and testing of technical solutions tied to the digital euro, as well as working with the European Commission regarding legislative proposals on the issue. What do you think about the digital euro project and its development? Tell us in the comments section below. View the full article

Javier Milei, a presidential candidate for the next election in Argentina, has presented a dollarization plan to fix the economy of the country if elected. The proposal, which has supporters and detractors, would aim to solve the historic devaluation of the Argentine peso and the 100%+ interannual inflation that Argentina registered in March. Dollarization Surges as Option to ‘Fix’ Argentine Economy Argentine economists and the population are debating dollarization as a possible solution to the devaluation and inflation problems the country is currently facing. The proposal, presented by Javier Milei, one of the strongest contenders in the next October presidential election according to several polls, includes the abandonment of the Argentine peso as a fiat currency, and the conversion of all deposits and reserves of the central and private banks to U.S. dollars. According to Milei, this would be one of the more feasible solutions to the myriad problems the national economy is facing. Earlier this month, he stated: If you want to end the scam of monetary emission to cover for the treasury and end inflation, given that Argentine politicians are thieves, the only way is to close down the Central Bank and, at the beginning [of my government], dollarize [the economy]. While Milei has not determined the exchange rate at which its plan would convert pesos to dollars, to him the social cost would be zero, as the dollarization would end inflation, which is hitting Argentine citizens hard. Cost and Effects of the Proposed Dollar Switch Milei’s plan, which is not new, is estimated to cost the country $40 billion. The Argentine peso has lost more than 15% of its value in less than ten days against the U.S. dollar, something that has given an upswing to Milei’s campaign. This in a country that has traditionally used the dollar as a savings option, even more so after the so-called “corralito” was introduced — a measure which restricted the number of dollars Argentines could withdraw from private banks back in 2001. One of the effects of the new measure, if implemented, would be the abandonment of establishing a national monetary policy. This is being criticized by several analysts, that state the move would tie these policies to what the U.S. Federal Reserve dictates, which may or may not be beneficial to Argentina’s economy. Others, like former Treasury Minister Domingo Cavallo, believe that the dollarization will be an option to “stabilize” the country in 2024 or 2025, before making a series of reforms to lessen the effect of this measure on wages, pensions, and other assets. What do you think about Javier Milei and his dollarization proposal for Argentina? Tell us in the comment section below. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Golden Gate (GGX) is a novel interchain infrastructure protocol that eliminates Layer 0 communication friction by delivering protocol-agnostic communications and more secure liquidity transfer. Golden Gate mediates interchain communication via the Incentivized Message Delivery Protocol (IMDP), which uses a network of couriers running light clients to deliver messages for efficient cross-chain communication. Golden Gate supports the IBC, XCMP, and LayerZero communication protocols, amongst others, making it universally composable across Web3 infrastructure. With this architecture, Golden Gate delivers a next-generation programmable layer 0, enabling developers to leverage this technology stack to benefit their dApps and, ultimately, their end users. In practice, this means that developers will be able to deploy their dApps such that they are natively interoperable and protocol agnostic from day 1, abstracting away the need to worry about cross chain interoperability. In order to build on Golden Gate’s layer 0, developers must deploy their apps with the Golden Gate Virtual Machine, which supports a wide array of languages and tooling. Building on Golden Gate is in essence building cross-chain across all major chains and places novel DeFi utilization and use cases as its centerpiece. Golden Gate already has novel DeFi applications being developed on it, which are only possible on multichain platforms that provide comprehensive interchain infrastructure like Golden Gate. While DeFi innovation has stagnated over the past two years, multichain DeFi on Golden Gate promises to bring true scalable innovation to decentralized finance. Golden Gate’s hybrid virtual machine builds upon Astar’s cross-virtual machine (XVM) pallet, which provides cross VM interactions between WebAssembly (WASM) and Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) smart contracts. This requires two separate breakthroughs: 1) EVM Adapter – a WASM wrapped EVM contract call, as WASM smart contracts expects to only receive and send active calls – meaning an event in an EVM environment must be able to make a call to a separate WASM contract, all within Substrate runtime. 2) XVM Adapter – that does the reverse, interacting from WASM to EVM, which requires a chain extension, a way to extend contracts API to add contracts to runtime pallet interaction. Golden Gate’s EVM adapter is already complete today, and the XVM adapter is on track to be bidirectionally live soon (slated for Q2 2023). Detailed in Golden Gate’s whitepaper this means in practice that developers can deploy dApps written in languages that compile down to EVM bytecode or WebAssembly. For EVM familiar developers, a host of developer tools can now be used on Golden Gate, including smart contract languages such as Solidity and Vyper, frameworks such as Truffle, Hardhat, and Foundry, IDEs such as Remix and Ethereum Studio, and a host of other EVM native tools you are used to using. For WASM familiar developers, the same is true for languages such as Rust and Typescript, enabling you to inherit the vast toolchains that are well established and thoroughly hardened. This makes building on Golden Gate accessible to the 300 thousand Solidity programmers, plus the additional 30 million programmers that code in languages that compile down to WebAssembly, opening Golden Gate to developers to the wider programming community. Now, instead of being constrained by execution environments, and thus limiting your dApp’s access to liquidity within a specific blockchain ecosystem, the script can now be flipped, where your execution environment is not a decision that constrains liquidity, but can be determined after you’ve decided to build on Golden Gate, a fundamentally interoperable layer 0. Golden Gate (GGX) aimed at unifying fragmented infrastructure and protecting communications and liquidity in Web3 is moving to TestNet soon creating the means for developers to begin exploring building dApps and DeFi innovation that are truly cross-chain. Golden Gate is universalizing cross-chain liquidity, solving the problem of liquidity and communication fragmentation across blockchains and communication standards. ABOUT GOLDEN GATE Golden Gate (GGX) is interchain infrastructure that delivers protocol agnostic cross-chain communications and liquidity routing, featuring a comprehensive security architecture. Golden Gate is delivering a next-generation programmable layer 0, with an embedded hybrid virtual machine, and advanced DeFi orchestration capabilities that contributes critical infrastructure for Web3’s emerging “Internet of Blockchains.” Golden Gate is developed by a team that collectively helped build key components of our industry’s first generation fragmented infrastructure, now with the mission to bring frictionless composability and enhanced security standards to Web3. Contact Details Golden Gate, Lisa Loi, info@ggxchain.io This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

From being seen as a small “anti-establishment rebellion asset” more than ten years ago, crypto has grown to “become more widespread,” says Sarah Pritchard, an executive director at the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Pritchard said while the FCA has routinely warned consumers of risks associated with crypto, the watchdog has “always been open to innovation.” Few Customers Know About Crypto According to Sarah Pritchard, an executive director of markets at the Financial Conduct Authority, crypto has evolved from being seen as “an anti-establishment rebellion asset” more than ten years ago, to one that “has become more widespread.” However, Pritchard insisted in her April 25 speech that just a few “consumers know what it is, how it works and what they are getting into.” The executive director also suggested that as “this once alternative investment becomes more popular,” stakeholders will eventually be forced to sit down and “debate about risk, mitigation and the limits of regulation.” Pritchard said it had been “instructive” to watch U.S. regulators respond to the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX. Although the FCA has routinely issued warnings to individuals dealing with cryptocurrencies, according to Pritchard such a stance should not imply that the watchdog is against innovation. “While we have been relentless about warning that consumers need to be prepared to lose all their money if buying crypto-assets – and actually issued a warning a week before FTX collapsed about its unauthorised operation in the UK – we have always been open to innovation,” the executive director said. Crypto Industry Needs Mature Participants To support the assertion that the FCA is not against innovation, the executive director pointed to how crypto-assets and the blockchain enable faster and cheaper cross-border transactions. According to Pritchard, a more efficient cross-border payment method can potentially boost as well as support international trade. The same method might also be the most ideal for a global workforce because it enables them “to send money to friends and family overseas” more quickly. Meanwhile, the executive director said as the crypto industry becomes more mature it also becomes imperative for industry players to change their ways. She also warned that crypto “has a high risk of exploitation by serious organised criminals” and this necessitates the need for a “regulatory regime [that] strikes an appropriate balance.” What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article

After the tumultuous downfall of three major banks, namely Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank, several central banks made a collaborative announcement of a swift, coordinated emergency response. The intervention aimed to furnish U.S. dollar liquidity, with the intention of alleviating the impact of such severe shocks on the flow of credit to households and businesses. As per the joint statement published on Tuesday, the central banks have decided to curtail these newly introduced swap line arrangements, switching them from daily auctions to weekly operations. Central Banks Cut Back USD Liquidity Backstop; Moody’s Downgrades U.S. Banking Sector and 11 Regional Banks According to a joint statement from several central banks, including the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank (ECB), the Swiss National Bank, and the U.S. Federal Reserve, the recently created U.S. dollar swap line arrangements will be reduced from daily to weekly. The announcement cites “improvements in U.S. dollar funding conditions and low demand at recent 7-day maturity” as the reason for the auction cuts. However, the central banks say that the “liquidity backstop to ease strains in global funding markets” could adjust the operations rate provision depending on “market conditions.” The original coordinated emergency response announcement was made 37 days ago on March 19, 2023. The decision was made after the fall of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and Signature Bank. The demise of SVB’s UK branch and the fall of Credit Suisse followed with the Swiss National Bank urging UBS to acquire Credit Suisse. While the central banks cite U.S. dollar funding conditions improving, the world’s leading credit rating agency, Moody’s Investor Service, downgraded the U.S. banking sector five days ago. “There are negative credit implications for the U.S. banking sector that extend beyond immediate funding challenges to downward pressure on banks’ earnings, combined in some cases with weaker capitalization and risks related to commercial real estate (CRE),” Moody’s disclosed on Friday. Western Alliance CEO: The Waters Are Now Calmer Amid the U.S. banking sector downgrade, the credit rating agency that evaluates and assigns a credit rating to each bank also downgraded 11 U.S. banks, including First Republic Bank, U.S. Bancorp, Comerica Inc., Zions Bancorporation, and Western Alliance Bancorp. *FIRST REPUBLIC BANK PLUNGES 29% TO TRADE AT RECORD LOW — zerohedge (@zerohedge) April 25, 2023 In a statement issued on behalf of Zions Bancorporation to the Wall Street Journal, the recent assessment provided by Moody’s was contested. Disagreeing with the agency’s conclusions, James Abbott, the bank’s director of investor relations, expressed disappointment that Moody’s had overlooked the “tremendous value” inherent in Zions’ inexpensive deposit foundation. Several market observers believe that the banking crisis is ongoing, with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon stating in early April that it is not over. Economist and gold investor Peter Schiff has also warned of a significant recession this month, indicating that the banking issues are far from resolved. Furthermore, Lynette Zang, the chief market analyst at ITM Trading, recently told Kitco News in an interview that a banking fallout could trigger the onset of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), suggesting that there may be more to come. However, Huw Roberts, head of analytics at Quant Insight, believes that the banking crisis is “largely contained,” while Western Alliance CEO Ken Vecchione noted that “the waters are now calmer.” On Tuesday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, First Republic Bank’s (NYSE: FRC) shares slid more than 40%. What are your thoughts on the joint decision by several central banks to reduce U.S. dollar swap line arrangements from daily to weekly auctions, and Moody’s recent downgrade of the U.S. banking sector and 11 regional banks? Do you believe the banking crisis is far from over, or do you think the waters are now calmer, as some experts suggest? Share your views in the comments section below. View the full article

Recent local reports have brought to light that Shin Hyun-seong, also known as Daniel Shin, co-founder of Terraform Labs, has been indicted by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office on charges of fraud. Along with nine others, Shin is suspected of deceiving investors and accumulating around 460 billion won ($350M) before the Terra project ultimately failed. Daniel Shin Indicted With 9 Other Terra Associates KBS World, a regional South Korean publication, has revealed that ten individuals, including Daniel Shin, have been indicted in South Korea. Although they have not been detained, the suspects have been charged with financial law violations, embezzlement, and fraud. The South Korean authorities suspect that this group of individuals raised 460 billion won ($350M) through unlawful means linked to the Terra blockchain project. According to the KBS report, Shin was responsible for supervising terrausd (UST) (now known as USTC) payments for four years, starting from July 2018. Prosecutors have reason to believe that false advertising was utilized during this period. Seven of the ten suspects who were indicted worked for Terraform Labs, while one was Shin’s financial broker. Although the prosecution is aiming to seize 246.8 billion won ($184.7M), the process has been far from smooth. In a recent ruling, the court in Seoul stated that the original Terra asset, now referred to as LUNC, is not a security. As a result, the Seoul prosecutors’ office had difficulty confiscating Daniel Shin’s cryptocurrency assets due to this provision. After eleven months of investigations, the Seoul prosecutors’ office is now bringing the accused to trial. Notably, the indictment report does not mention co-founder Kwon Do-hyeong, commonly known as Do Kwon. What do you think about Daniel Shin being indicted by the Seoul prosecutors’ office? Share your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

While several top digital assets have decreased in value against the U.S. dollar over the past month, the stablecoin economy has lost $2.4 billion in value since March 31, 2023. Four of the top five stablecoins experienced net redemptions over the last 30 days, except for tether, which grew by 2.3% during that time. Four of the Top Five Stablecoins Experience Net Redemptions in the Past 30 Days On March 31, 2023, the top stablecoins by market capitalization represented $133.63 billion in value, and now the valuation is down to $131.21 billion. A total of $2.4 billion worth of stablecoins has been withdrawn from the stablecoin economy since then. Data reveals that over the past 30 days, USDC, BUSD, DAI, and TUSD have all seen redemptions. Usd coin’s (USDC) circulating supply dropped 10.2% compared to last month, and binance usd (BUSD) fell by 20.6%. Of the top five largest stablecoins, both USDC and BUSD experienced the most redemptions. Further, DAI’s circulating supply slipped 9% lower in 30 days and TUSD’s supply decreased by 0.7%. Tether (USDT), however, grew 2.3% since last month, reaching a market capitalization worth $81.39 billion. Tether’s market valuation accounts for 61.65% of the entire stablecoin economy’s $131.21 billion value. While tether’s supply grew by 2.3%, pax dollar (USDP) rose by 33.9% since last month. USDP now has a market valuation of approximately $1,037,832,268. Both frax dollar and Tron’s USDD experienced losses during the past 30 days; frax dollar (FRAX) shed 3.8% while USDD lost 1% of its circulating supply. Gemini’s dollar-pegged token GUSD saw its supply increase by 18.1% to $465.22 million. Liquity usd (LUSD) recorded a 2.4% rise, and magic internet money (MIM) increased by 5.9% last month. The entire stablecoin economy represents 11.02% of the crypto economy’s $1.19 trillion net value. What does the recent decline in the stablecoin economy mean to you? Share your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Polygon fell to a six-week low on Tuesday, with sentiment in cryptocurrency markets remaining bearish. The price plunged as consumer confidence in the United States fell by more than expected, coming in at a reading of 101.3 in April. Solana also slipped, hitting a two-week low. Polygon (MATIC) Polygon (MATIC) dropped to a six-week low on Tuesday, as sentiment in cryptocurrency markets remained bearish. MATIC/USD dropped for a third straight session, hitting an intraday low of $0.9633 in the process. The move came less than a day after polygon was trading at a peak of $1.01, with today’s fall sending it to its weakest point since March 10. As a result of the sell-off, it appears that MATIC bears are targeting a floor at the $0.95 mark. From the chart, one of the catalysts for the drop seems to be a breakout that occurred on the relative strength index (RSI). The index fell below a floor at 32.00, and is currently tracking at 31.13, which is its lowest reading since last June. Solana (SOL) Solana (SOL) was another notable mover on Tuesday, as the token moved closer to a floor at $20.00. Following a high of $21.95 to start the week, SOL/USD dropped to a low of $20.92 earlier in today’s session. Today’s slippage sent solana to its lowest level since April 11, when price fell to a bottom at $20.83. At the time of writing, SOL has somewhat risen from its earlier low, and is currently trading at $20.95. In addition to this, the RSI indicator continues to track near a floor at 42.00, with a present reading of 42.66. Should it fall below this point of support, it is highly likely that solana will drop below $20.00. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Will solana begin May trading below $20.00? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. View the full article

PRESS RELEASE. Abu Dhabi, 25 April, 2023 — Venom, a Layer-1 blockchain that operates out of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), today announced that its public testnet is officially live. The milestone marks a significant accomplishment in Venom’s roadmap as it prepares to launch on mainnet. Along with the testnet launch, Venom has also unveiled a host of in-house developed decentralized applications as part of its growing ecosystem. The testnet design suits both ecosystem users and developers. It enables developers to test and debug dApps and blockchain protocols, while allowing users to experience these dApps firsthand. The goal of the program is to encourage innovation and community building within the ecosystem. Developers and users can try out the testnet in two simple steps. First, download the Venom Wallet on mobile via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, or on the desktop as a Google Chrome extension. Secondly, users can jumpstart their journey of testing the Venom ecosystem by claiming a free testnet allocation. “We’re excited to announce the launch of Venom’s public testnet, a crucial step towards our upcoming mainnet launch. With our highly scalable and reliable asynchronous blockchain, we’re confident that developers will be able to build innovative dApps, while users will be able to experience them firsthand,” said Peter Knez, Chair of the Venom Foundation Council. Developers will be able to try their hand at building on the asynchronous Venom blockchain which boasts ultra-fast speed at 100k TPS, and a dynamic sharding feature that enhances scalability and network reliability. To kick things off, Venom has curated a repository of developer documentation to equip developers with the necessary tools and knowledge to start building. Venom’s network boosts interoperability making it a viable tool for developers, while its low transaction fees makes it user-friendly for global adoption. A host of dApps debut on the testnet Several dApps are to make their debut on Venom testnet. Users can test them out by performing transactions, testing the native Venom wallet and much more. Venom Wallet Venom Scan VenomPools Venom Bridge Venom Stake Web3.World WeUp NFT Mint Oasis.Gallery About Venom Foundation Venom Foundation is licensed by the ADGM and enables the acceleration of global Web3 projects. The decentralized network operates under the jurisdiction of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The ADGM is an oasis for investors and financial services firms, positioning Venom as the world’s first compliant blockchain, affording authorities and enterprises the freedom to build, innovate, and scale. A portfolio of in-house dApps and protocols has been developed on the Venom blockchain by various companies. With capabilities of dynamic sharding, low fees, ultra-fast speed and scalability, Venom harbors the potential to function as the main infrastructure for a global ecosystem of Web3 applications, possessing ultra-fast transaction speeds and infinite scalability to meet the demands of an ever expanding user base. For media inquiries, please contact: Adam Newton (pr@venom.ventures) For more information about the Venom testnet launch, visit: Website For more information about Venom Foundation, visit: Website | Twitter This is a press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release. View the full article

Over two dozen nations have applied for BRICS membership ahead of its upcoming annual summit, the representative of the hosting nation revealed in an interview. The organization which unites leading emerging economies will discuss its enlargement in early June. BRICS to Talk Expansion as Number of Candidates Continues to Grow The BRICS group of nations — Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — are scheduled to meet in Cape Town on June 2 – 3. Enlargement will be in the focus of their talks, according to Anil Sooklal, South Africa’s ambassador to the group. “What will be discussed is the expansion of BRICS and the modalities of how this will happen,” Sooklal said, quoted by Bloomberg. “Thirteen countries have formally asked to join and another six have asked informally,” he highlighted, stating: We are getting applications to join every day. The foreign ministers of the five member states will attend the discussions in June, Sooklal confirmed. Besides enlargement, the first diplomats will also discuss hot spots like Sudan, where fighting between the army and a paramilitary force rages on. Four countries launched the organization as ‘BRIC’ in 2006 and it became ‘BRICS’ when South Africa was allowed to join in 2010. It remains the only admitted new member so far. Saudi Arabia and Iran are among the nations formally applying for membership, Sooklal unveiled earlier this year. Conversations about the potential enlargement of BRICS were initiated by China last year. Observers say the People’s Republic is trying to increase its diplomatic influence in order to challenge the dominance of developed economies on the international scene including in formats such as the U.N. However, the proposed expansion has been met with some concern by other BRICS members, fearing their own influence will be diminished if the organization accepts Beijing’s close allies, the report notes. China is the world’s second-largest economy with a gross domestic product twice as big as the combined GDP of the four other nations forming the bloc at the moment. Do you think all BRICS members will approve the enlargement of the organization? Share your expectations in the comments section below. View the full article

On April 24, 2023, Coinbase announced that it had filed an action in federal court requesting the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to respond to their petition. The petition, submitted in July 2022, requested the commission to propose and adopt rules governing the regulation of digital assets. Coinbase Requests SEC to Respond to Petition for Digital Asset Regulation The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has filed a court action to press the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) about its July 2022 petition requesting regulatory guidance. In an announcement on Monday, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, emphasized that over 1,700 entities and individuals submitted comments in support of the request for clarity. The company believes that regulatory clarity in the crypto space is long overdue. Despite the securities regulator initiating a slew of potential regulatory enforcement actions, crypto firms have not been informed of how the SEC believes the law applies to their business. “From the SEC’s public statements and enforcement activity in the crypto industry, it seems like the SEC has already made up its mind to deny our petition. But they haven’t told the public yet. So the action Coinbase filed today simply asks the court to ask the SEC to share its decision,” Grewal wrote. The firm’s chief legal officer added: It is also unusual for an agency to bring enforcement actions based on a view of the law that it has not yet shared formally with the public. Again, Coinbase is not asking the Court to instruct the agency how to respond. We are simply requesting that the Court order the SEC to respond at all, which they are legally obligated to do. Coinbase’s announcement follows the CEO’s recent tweet that said a few members of the company flew to the SEC offices in Washington. “Met with the SEC today. We’ll continue pushing for a clear rule book in the U.S. for crypto regs,” Brian Armstrong wrote. “The U.S. can’t afford to fall behind on this important technology to update the financial system.” The firm noted in its Monday announcement that the legal action filed is part of a “multi-year, continual plea to leaders in Washington for clear rules of the road.” Coinbase acknowledges that regulations are necessary and highlights how the company has implored authorities to establish such guidelines for better clarity. Coinbase seeks “basic rulemaking,” and while the federal court action seeks to address the impasse regarding the petition, the company said it will be pursued until the end. What are your thoughts on the legal battle between Coinbase and the SEC over the need for clear regulatory guidelines in the crypto industry? Share your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below. View the full article

Bitcoin remained close to a four-week low on Tuesday, as prices fell to a support point around $27,000. The decline came ahead of this afternoon’s U.S. consumer confidence report, which is expected to fall from 104.2, to a reading of 104 in April. Ethereum was also lower, and approached a breakout below the $1,800 level. Bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) continued to trade near a one-month low, as markets prepared for the upcoming consumer confidence report in the United States. Following a high of $27,701.26 during yesterday’s session, BTC/USD fell to a low of $27,070.85 on Tuesday. This is the weakest point that bitcoin has fallen to since March 28, which is when it last traded below $27,000. Looking at the chart, it appears that this drop took place as the relative strength index (RSI) moved back towards a floor at 41.00 At the time of writing, price strength is tracking at 43.14, following a failed breakout of a ceiling at 45.00. Should bears push the index below 41.00, there is a good chance that BTC will move to a lower floor at $26,500. Ethereum Ethereum (ETH) was also in the red in today’s session, with bears pushing the price towards the $1,800 mark. ETH/USD dropped to an intraday low of $1,807.74 on Tuesday, following a high at $1,874.11 the day prior. Tuesday’s slippage came as ethereum fell below its recent support point at the $1,830 mark, which had been in place since April 4. From the chart, this latest downturn came after the RSI indicator collided with a ceiling at the 48.00 level. Price strength is now tracking at 43.67, with a support point at 42.00 a potential target for bears should momentum continue in its current direction. The 10-day (red) moving average is now also nearing a cross with its 25-day (blue) counterpart, which could be a sign of upcoming declines. Register your email here to get weekly price analysis updates sent to your inbox: Will crypto prices rebound following today’s consumer confidence report? Leave your thoughts in the comments below. View the full article

A Judge of a High Court in Uganda recently dismissed an application which sought to quash a Bank of Uganda directive that barred licensed entities and individuals from facilitating crypto transactions. In his ruling, Justice Musa Ssekaana insisted that the central bank’s crypto prohibition does not amount to an infringement on property rights. Cryptocurrency an ‘Undefined’ Payment System in Uganda The High Court in Uganda recently dismissed an application that sought to upend a central bank directive that bars cryptocurrency transactions. In his ruling, the court’s Justice Musa Ssekaana, insisted that the Bank of Uganda (BOU)’s April 2022 directive does not infringe on individual property rights. Instead, the directive is an attempt by the central bank not to legalize the “undefined system as a payment instrument in Uganda.” As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News in May 2022, the BOU warned parties disregarding its directive that it will not hesitate to invoke “its powers under Section 13(l) (b) & (f) of the NPS Act, 2020 for any licensees that will be found in breach of the above directive.” Immediately after the directive was issued, Silver Kayondo, a Ugandan crypto trader, sought redress via the High Court. In addition to having the court declare cryptos legitimate digital assets, Kayondo also wanted the court to set aside the central bank’s directive. Bank of Uganda Crypto Directive Properly Issued However, in ruling against Kayondo’s application, Justice Ssekaana said the BOU acted appropriately when it issued the directive. “The applicant cannot make a claim for legitimate expectation merely because the public statement did not outlaw the same. The statement did not promise to the applicant or other stakeholders that cryptocurrencies would be allowed in Uganda or would never be regulated. Legitimate expectation relates to a promise in relation to an existing situation which will continue, or to a future benefit, advantage or course of action which the authority will follow,” Justice Ssekaana asserted. The judge also added that the BOU directive clearly states Uganda’s position with respect to cryptocurrencies and that “the context cannot be distorted to infer any benefit or promise of legality.” Ssekaana also ordered each party to bear the costs of bringing the matter before the courts. Register your email here to get a weekly update on African news sent to your inbox: What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below. View the full article